Ch 38: Text Messages Across Time

【Have we returned to the sixth ending?】

At 10:12 p.m. in 2004, after sending the message, Lin Wu placed the phone in the middle of the table.

He and Qin Weidong were sitting across from each other at a four-person table. Lin Wu had actually wanted to sit next to Qin Weidong to send messages together, but Qin Weidong had stretched his legs out, taking up three quarters of the space. There was no room for Lin Wu to move over, and Qin Weidong didn’t seem inclined to shift, so they ended up awkwardly reading the messages from opposite sides.

“Did the other side reply yet?” Qin Weidong also felt the situation was awkward, but he didn’t dare sit next to Lin Wu.

“Not yet.” They had reconnected yesterday, but after being out of contact for four days, Lin Wu wasn’t sure if they would get a reply tonight.

“Let’s just wait and see.” Qin Weidong gestured for him not to worry and reached for some popcorn chicken from the snack platter.

At the same moment, Lin Wu also reached for it. Their fingers brushed.

Qin Weidong: !!!

He jerked his hand back so suddenly that he nearly knocked over the Coke beside him.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Wu was startled.

“Nothing, I spaced out.” Qin Weidong felt his reaction was abnormal. Just as he was thinking about how to explain, the phone lit up.

Sender: Unknown number.

Message:

【Caramel coffee.】
【We’re back.】

“They replied.” Lin Wu immediately focused on the message. Qin Weidong let out a breath of relief, though he was curious. “Why did they say caramel coffee? That seems random.”

“I don’t know. Maybe they sent it by mistake,” Lin Wu said casually, though he knew exactly what it meant. It was a code between him and his future self.

There was a twenty-year gap between them. The future version could understand his situation through memory updates, but Lin Wu couldn’t know the other side’s condition. So half an hour earlier, when he saw the coffee machine in the burger shop, he had silently repeated: caramel coffee.

That was the signal.

Now that the other side replied with it, it confirmed that it was indeed his future self.

“What happened in the last ending?” Lin Wu asked.

“In 2004, Lin Wu was killed. Today is a new ending.” The reply was vague, but Lin Wu understood. Yesterday’s message hadn’t been sent by “himself.” He had already died at that point. The current “himself” didn’t know the details.

“Qin Weidong.” Lin Wu frowned and looked up.

“What is it?” Qin Weidong lifted his head from the phone.

“…Nothing.” Lin Wu hesitated. Just like his future self, he suspected the message in the fifteenth ending had been sent by Qin Weidong. But he didn’t know what happened in the future, and Qin Weidong now knew even less.

“Should we start a new ending?” Lin Wu typed.

“Not yet.” In the Xuhu hotel, the thirty-seven-year-old Lin Wu had just absorbed fifteen sets of memories, along with the experience of being killed. He needed time to steady himself.

At 10:27, the time channel closed.

Lin Wu looked at Qin Weidong. “Did you change your dressing today?”

“I did.” Qin Weidong’s foot was wrapped in bandages, and he was wearing blue cotton slippers.

“For the next couple of days, don’t eat anything spicy or let it get wet. If you need to shower, either cover your foot with a plastic bag or keep it out of the water.” Even though the injury wasn’t Lin Wu’s fault, it had happened at his house, and he felt responsible.

“I know.” Qin Weidong listened to the careful instructions, glancing out the window awkwardly.

Ten minutes later, the two walked out of the burger shop.

“I’ll head back first,” Lin Wu said, preparing to leave. He hadn’t brought his bike and planned to take a taxi.

“We’ll go together.” Qin Weidong didn’t let him leave alone. He flagged down a taxi, got into the front seat, and gestured for Lin Wu to sit in the back.

“I can go back by myself,” Lin Wu said, surprised. It was only about seven hundred meters from here to Lide. It would be inconvenient for Qin Weidong to go out of his way.

“There’s a house my family owns in Xuhu. I’m heading there tonight, so it’s on the way. If you feel bad about it, just treat me to a meal next time,” Qin Weidong said in one breath.

“…Alright.” Lin Wu felt continuing to refuse would make things awkward, so he agreed.

After getting in the car, he wanted to chat, but Qin Weidong closed his eyes to rest as soon as he sat down. Lin Wu stayed quiet and didn’t disturb him.

The car soon arrived at the residential compound.

“Stay safe on the way,” Lin Wu said, waving as he got out.

“Mm.” Qin Weidong waved back.

Ten minutes later, just after Lin Wu got home, he received a message:

【Photo.】 — Qin Weidong

Lin Wu paused, then realized Qin Weidong wanted proof that he had arrived safely.

It felt a bit awkward to send a photo just to confirm getting home, but considering what they had just gone through in the fifteenth ending, Qin Weidong was probably worried something might happen. Translated on Hololo novels. After thinking for a moment, Lin Wu took a photo of his alarm clock in front of the curtains. Normally he would photograph a note, but he was too tired to take out his schoolbag.

…

At the same time, Qin Weidong entered a luxurious villa in Xuhu’s East District with his keys.

The house was brightly lit. Qin Jianzhang, wearing a cotton nightgown, was sitting on the sofa watching TV. When he saw Qin Weidong come in, he snorted.

“Last month you had a fracture, then you caught a cold, and now that you’ve just recovered, you’ve gone and turned yourself into a cripple again. I didn’t realize my son had become this capable.”

He had been on a business trip in Qianzhou for the past few days. He had just signed a contract for a quarry when Zhao Hongyu called to say Qin Weidong had been injured and taken to the hospital.

“Is it serious?” he had asked immediately, his tone turning sharp.

“Just a toe injury, nothing serious. The doctor said three to five days,” Zhao Hongyu replied honestly.

“How did it happen?” Qin Jianzhang relaxed a little.

“Seems like he dropped a whetstone on it at a classmate’s house.”

“Whetstone?” Qin Jianzhang found it hard to believe, but since things in Qianzhou were mostly settled, he thought it over and booked a ticket back.

“What time did you get back?” Qin Weidong didn’t mind his father’s sarcastic tone. He sat down on the sofa beside him and reached for a banana.

“Five in the afternoon.” After a few complaints, Qin Jianzhang looked at his foot. “Which one’s injured?”

“My right foot.” Qin Weidong took off his shoe and stretched out the injured foot, gesturing a bit. “See? Tough skin, nothing serious.”

“Even tough skin shouldn’t be treated like that.” Qin Jianzhang checked it carefully. Only after confirming it wasn’t serious did he relax. Then he seemed to recall something. “You’re not staying in the dorm anymore?”

“How did you know?” Qin Weidong was startled.

“Xiao Zhao went to bring you clothes the day before yesterday and said your dorm was empty.”

“I stayed at a classmate’s place for the past couple of days.” Qin Weidong felt annoyed. Why did Zhao Hongyu say everything?

“Don’t blame Xiao Zhao. Boarders are supposed to stay at school. If you go missing, we wouldn’t even know.” Qin Jianzhang seemed to read his thoughts. He had known about it two days ago but was too busy with contracts to deal with it until now.

“I just stayed at a classmate’s for two days. I’m back now.” Qin Weidong tried to end the topic.

“Which classmate?” Qin Jianzhang was curious. Qin Weidong might look like he had a lot of casual friends, but he was measured and rarely stayed over at someone else’s place.

“You wouldn’t know even if I told you. Anyway, I’m going upstairs to wash up.” Qin Weidong pretended to be impatient and headed upstairs.

“Hey, we barely get to talk and you’re already leaving?” Qin Jianzhang felt he left too quickly. He sighed to himself, thinking how his son had been cuter when he was younger. Now that he’d grown up, he didn’t listen anymore.

While Qin Jianzhang reminisced downstairs, Qin Weidong exhaled in relief once he got to his room.

If it had been two days earlier, he wouldn’t have minded telling his father he’d made a good friend at No. 1 High School. But after realizing yesterday that he wanted to kiss Lin Wu, he had no idea how to explain any of it.

What kind of normal person wants to kiss their friend?

There was a bottle of mineral water on the desk. He unscrewed it and took a few big gulps, then found himself wondering what Lin Wu might be doing right now.

He took out his phone to check if there was a reply, planning to ask again if there wasn’t. Then he noticed two unread messages:

【Photo.】
【Good night.】

Both had been sent two minutes earlier.

He opened the photo. In it, Lin Wu was holding an alarm clock, wearing his school uniform, standing in front of a light beige curtain. It was clearly Lin Wu’s home. Translated on Hololo novels. The picture was a bit blurry, probably because he wasn’t used to taking photos, but it was obvious that his features were good and his skin was very fair.

He zoomed in and stared at it, completely absorbed for three whole minutes. When he realized what he was doing, he was shocked, then hurried to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.

Three minutes later, Qin Weidong lay on his bed, feeling lost.

He told himself not to overthink. Absolutely not.

And yet, in the middle of that intense self-control, he angrily picked up his phone and saved the photo, placing it together with the previous two.

After saving it, he stared at the message screen. Ten minutes later, after editing and deleting several times, he finally sent:

【Good night. ^_^】

He even added a cute emoticon.

…

“Lin Wu, it’s Gao Xiaoping. Are you still in Xuhu? Everyone was talking about the reunion last night. A few people even tagged you, but you haven’t been online, so I wanted to ask if you’re coming today. It’s been nearly twenty years since we last met, so if you’re free, come join us.”

The next morning, at the Xuhu hotel in 2024, Lin Wu had just woken up when he received Gao Xiaoping’s call.

He was momentarily confused, then remembered. He had received a call about a class reunion some time ago. This reunion existed in every timeline and wouldn’t change because of his different endings.

“When and where is it?” Lin Wu sat up and asked.

“Seven tonight, Huifeng Restaurant, private room 308. Are you free? I’ll send you the details.”

“Alright, I’ll be there on time.”

After chatting briefly, Lin Wu hung up. His life had been too turbulent lately. Agreeing to the reunion wasn’t just about seeing old classmates after twenty years. He also wanted to get out and breathe a little.

At 6:50 p.m., Lin Wu arrived early at Huifeng Restaurant. It was an elegant, upscale place. A server led him to private room 308. The room was about three hundred square meters, with eight tables. By the time he entered, more than half the seats were already filled.

A man in a suit was going from table to table chatting. When he saw Lin Wu, he froze for a moment, then came over enthusiastically and hugged him.

“Lin Wu!”

“Xiaoping.” Lin Wu returned the hug. They hadn’t been close in high school, but now that they were adults, basic social courtesy came naturally.

Lin Wu was now a professor at Jianghe University, with both status and reputation. On top of that, he had been top of the grade back then, so Gao Xiaoping seated him at a good table.

“Lin Wu? Long time no see!”

“Still as handsome as ever!”

“I heard you’re a professor now? I knew back then you were impressive, didn’t expect you to do this well.”

…

There were already seven people at the table, men and women alike, all greeting him warmly.

“Everyone looks better than before. Jiang Bo, I heard you opened a water plant? That’s impressive,” Lin Wu said with a smile, exchanging pleasantries.

Before long, he had matched everyone with his memories. But when his gaze reached the corner, he hesitated.

A woman in a black dress sat there, elegant and composed, with red lips and long wavy hair. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t place her.

“Lin Wu, don’t recognize me?” she laughed softly when she saw his expression.

“…Li Jing?” Lin Wu’s eyes widened in surprise when he heard her voice.

Back in high school, Li Jing had always been plain-faced and unadorned. Now she was poised and graceful. It was hard to imagine she was the same short-haired, studious girl who used to bury herself in problem sets.

“Lin Wu, long time no see.” Li Jing smiled, and in that smile, her present self overlapped with the girl he remembered.

✧˖°.──⋆⭒˚.⋆💌⋆⭒˚.⋆──✧˖°.